Apple may be basking in glory of the iPhone 5, but Samsung has a heavyweight champion of its own in the smartphone sector. Samsung this weekend announced that it has shipped 30 million of its latest flagship smartphone: the Galaxy S III.

The Galaxy S III has only been on the market since May, so that makes the feat even more astounding. Incredibly, the Galaxy S III's sales performance vastly outpaces that of its predecessor -- it took Samsung 14 months to cross the 30 million unit sales threshold with the Galaxy S II.

The Galaxy S III played a big roll in Samsung's blockbuster Q3 earnings report. The South Korean company saw $7.4 billion in profit (up 90 percent from the same period a year ago), which was mostly buoyed by 56.3 million smartphones shipped during the quarter.

Samsung has also struck a cord with audiences with its humorous television commercials that poke fun at rabid Apple fans that wait in long lines to purchase the latest iDevice.